16svt

Anyone else spotted this little gem, what a lovely old girl. If only i had the money http://www.milweb.net/webverts/68960/

Yes please to the photos

I am Engineering manager at RMS Locotec, I was also until recently Fleet Engineer for West Coast Railway Co. We still have a couple of Class 31s (as in the picture above) and a few class 56s.

We have had a fair few of this type of thread over the years. They usually result in people arguing over what can or cant be carried in an exempt vehicle. Some people say you cannot carry ANYTHING at all and some people are happy to carry loads of stuff. It would seem that as it stands, no one really knows what can or cannot be carried in an exempt vehicle as a test case in court has never happened. It is my view that if you have done your homework about the subject AND you would be prepared to stand in front of a judge and defend your actions in court, then you are fine. I for one would be quite willing to carry my tool box and some spares in my MOT exempt Matador, as i consider my tools and certain spares as essential for the safe operation of a vehicle that is almost 70 years old. I would also be prepared to argue that a bag containing clothes and food are not "goods", but my personal effects. But that is how i interpret the rules and as i have said, i am prepared to justify my actions in court if it was needed. <br>Its all a very grey area.

I am sure it is called "the recovery handbook" or something like that. I used to have a copy, but lent it to someone!!!! I tried to buy another copy a few years ago, but it seems to be VERY hard to get and commands a very high price if you can find one. It is a very good read.

Can I ask what oil pressure you are all getting? I get 60 psi cold idol, 35 hot (after working hard) full revs and 12 hot idol. I think this is very low myself. but a few others that have had Matadors for years tell me not to worry about it. Any thought?

Christ, did i just post that "out loud".

I better start making some pointless post to get my rank up then.

I forgot to say, if you think it will be much easier going back together. it wont, as you have to lift the very heavy swivel assemble, whilst getting the swivel pin bearing in the correct place and the get the pins in. I did manage by myself, but if was not easy. Good luck.

I rebuilt my Matador front axle last year (they are the same). You have to have the swivel assemble completely apart. You need to take both swivel pins out, then extract the tracta or CV joint and half shaft. then disassemble the whole shooting match on the deck. it really is not a nice job to do. if you are stuck, i can email the pages out of the manual. You can still get all the bearings from Timken, but they are not cheap. I also have some felt strips for the swivel seals. You also will need 2 new bearing oil seals (each side). I found a couple of NOS ones, but i am sure you could get new for a bearing supplier. if you need any help or if i can help with any parts, PM me and i will give you my number. Good luck. Dan

The broken links are almost all from a member who was banned (Antarmike). Shame, as he was a font of knowledge and had an incredible collection of Matador photos. A nice bloke as well.

Has anyone else spotted this beauty on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300616209154&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNARL:GB:1123#ht_500wt_1335 Very original and very cheap. it has been listed twice now and sold both times within 24 hours. If only i had the money!!

Thanks for all the info, I never knew smaller UNC were the same as BSW. I will try my local supplier. Yes it was me that was at Flookborough. Hope to see you again soon.

Please keep us all up to date with your work on this Matador (body) and let us know when you have updated the photo site. I am currently doing this myself at the moment and your body has a few more fittings than mine, so it is quite useful to me to see your pictures. What years is this body and who made it. Mine is a weymans made in 1944 and looks just like yours, although mine is in better nick. keep up the good work.

Thanks for the offer, I do visit Stroud on a fairly regular basis. Do you have any square nuts (a personal question, I know). They seem very hard to find.<br>Up until now, i have been building the bolts up with a mig welder !!! its ok with the 1/2 BSW bolts, but a bit too time consuming with the smaller ones.

I live near Settle, but work in Carnforth. So Lancaster is close and Leeds is not far.

Does anyone know where I can get 1/4 and 5/16 BSW coach bolts from. i'm also after square nut for them. I need them as im working on my Matadors body and the old ones are almost rusted through. I cant bear to put in metric. Thanks

Has to be paint. You don't want it to look like a pikey wagon do you.

Christ, that looks nasty. any idea what happened ?

There are 2 on milweb at the moment, both swimmers.

I dont seem to know much about the post war military products from Thornycroft. I have done the usual internet searches and not come up with much. I was hoping someone on here could help me out a bit. I am aware of a few models such as the Nubian, Big Ben, Amazon and Antar. But i would like to know what engine, gearboxes and axles these model had and how much of the vehicles were Thornycroft and how much was AEC. Thanks for your help.

A fair few years ago I borrowed a camper van from a friend to take the misses around Scotland. As soon as we left, I noticed that the fan belt was squealing. I did not worry to much and carried on. Next day I got under the van and tightened the belt as much possible, but it was almost at full adjustment. Did not think much more about it as the weather was good and we were only doing a few miles a day. That was until we started to come home on the last day. We left late and had some 350 miles to do, it was a Sunday and the weather was awful. Peeing down with rain. We had set off and everything seemed ok, but we had the lights, blower and wipers on. After an hour the charge light was hard on and it was obvious the van was using more power than the alternator was producing. I decided to turn the light off and use the wiper and blower as little as possible. This was fine until it started to get dark. I turned the light on and they were like candles. So with another 200 miles to do, I decided I had to do something.I pulled into the next services, but as the adjuster was already at its maximum adjustment and there was no way to get another belt, I had to come up with something clever. I looked through the van for anything that I may be able to use to help the situation and found bugger all. I only had an adjustable spanner, some grips and a screw driver and I did not even want to turn the engine off for fear it would not restart. I hunted around the van again in desperation and my eyes hit on a jar of Marmite. I grabbed a spoon and the Marmite, got under the still running van and spread the Marmite all over the fan Belt. Instantly the belt gripped and the lights brightened up. We drove that van back 200 miles like that with full lights, blower and wipers, it worked a treat. The only real affect was that every time we stopped and the engine started to idle, the hole van started to smell of twiglets. The other one the worked quite well was in Christmas 1999, I had a diesel Fiesta. The very cold weather had frozen the engine and pushed a core plug out. I lived out in the sticks and did not fancy a 3 mile walk into town, so I grabbed a saw a set out around the garden with the core plug looking for a branch that was the correct diameter. When I found one, I cut a piece of it and hammered it into the engine, filled it with water and off we went. The repair was never replaced and that old car went on to do another 12000 miles until I scrapped it, still with the wooden core plug. in fact, it was only when I removed the engine that i had sold, that I remembered about the bodge.

Looks like I got a bit over excited about the PTO, it is a gash job. In my defence, i have never looked at a MK1 Militant engine cover before and i thought the recess where the pto handle is was not normal. I hope to spend a few hours getting it running tomorrow. does anyone have a brake system schematic that they could email me. Cheers Dan

I will try and get the contract number next time i look at it. The one thing i am still confused about, is why it has a gearbox PTO. The winch is driven off the transfer box (like my Matador), but this has a PTO off the main gearbox, it has a sprocket on the end of it. I would say that this was an original fitting as the handle to engage it sits in a recess at the back of the engine cover on the passenger side and looks like a factory job, not a bodge at all. The fuel tank is also mounted behind the cab, but this could have been done by anyone. Do artillery tractors use the gearbox PTO for anything? I will also take more photos next time i see it.

Well another case of heart ruling the head, I have bought it. but with a new baby coming in the next 4 weeks and being busy at work, i may not pick it up for a while. will keep you all posted. By the way, what was the gearbox PTO used for?